Braiding machine



Apfil 1, 1930.

I R. C. KIVLEY BRAIDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed July 27, 1927 April 1, 1930.

BRAIDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed July 27, 1927 i R. c. KIVLEY I 1,752,437

/fi 4 4 Q l I L! Mme/7f Patented Apr. 1, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE my cnmns 311mm, or on max, rumors, as'sreuon 'ro wns'rmm nrncrmc couramr, moonrona'rm), or NEW 1012:, N. Y., a conronarron or mw YORK BRA DING MACHINE Application fled July 27, 1927. Serial No. 208,678.

chines in which the strand supplies are arranged in sets and revolved opposite directions about a common axis. 7

"The principal objects of the resent invention are the provision in brai ing machines of the above mentioned type of durable and efficient mechanism for driving the strand su plies whereby such machines may be driven at a high rate of speed with a mlnimum amount of vibration and improved means for deflecting the strands from one set of supplies in and out around the supplies of the other set whereb the strands are constantly maintained un er a uniform tension and are not subjected to deleterious strains.

In accordance with the general features of. theinvention there is provided in one embodiment thereofan improved braiding machine of the above mentioned type having the usual upper and lower strand supplies. The upper strand supplies are mounted upon individual carriers which are rotated in a direction o posite to that of the, lower strand supplies y means of reciprocating driving members carried by a rotating turret. Each carrier is provided with a pair of reciprocating driving members arranged to be alternately engaged therewith and disengaged therefrom. Thedriving members areactuated by a continuous cam, the opposite faces of which are closely engaged by apair of rollers carried by each of the driving members whereb the vibration of the moving parts is reduce to a minimum. The strands from the lower supplies are deflected in and out around the upper strand supplies by cooperating guide members which are designed to maintain a substantially uniform tension upon the strands. 1 v

Other features and'advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, reference being bad to the'accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a fra mentary vertical section of a braiding machine embodying the features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a semi-diagrammatic plan view of a portion thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged developed front elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary developed section, illustrating the improved mechcarriers, and

- Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, the supporting framework of the ap aratus comprises a vertically dis osed tu ular post 15 aving a spider-like ase 16 by means of which it may be secured to or supported u on a bench, table or pedestal (not shown). 0- tatable about the tubular post 15 is an outer turret 17 and rotatably journaled within the post 15 is a hollow shaft or spindle 18 to the upper end of which is secured an inner turanism for driving the upper strand supply ret19. The turrets 17 and 19 are rotated in posed drive shaft23. I The shaft 23 is journaled in suitable bearings formed in the framework and may be driven from any suitable source of power (not shown). a

It is to be understood that the structure thus far described represents only one of the various types of braiding machines in which the features of the present inventionmay be advantageously employed. The invention is therefore not limited to the s ecific construction and arran ement shown ut may assume various other orms in accordance with the particular type ofbraiding machine in which it is embodie Mounted upon the outer turret 17 and projecting radially therefrom are aplurality of brackets 2525 which support the lower strand sup lies 26.'26. Suitable tension de-- vices 27-2$ are employed for controlling the delivery of the strands from the individual supplies but these are not here shown in detail since they form no art of the present invention. A plurality 0 upper strand sup- R-EISSU'ED' plies 28-28 are arranged above the lower strand supplies 26 with' their'axes at right] angles to those of the lower 'strandsupplies.

u on individual U-shaped brackets -36 w 'ch are secured to individual carriers 31-31. The carriers 31 are provided with arcuate rooves 32 by means of which they are slida le upon an annular track 34 formed integral with or rigidly secured to the outer turret 17 It Will e observed '(Fig. 2) that the track 34 is divided into sections 35-35 and slots or openings 36-36 are provided between the individual sections through which the strands from the lower supplies are allowed to pass in and out around the upper 'of the lower strand supplies, and slide along the track 34, passing from one section to another across t e openings therebetween. The carriers 31 are positively advanced along the track 34 by reciprocating driving members 38-38 carried by the inner turrent 19.-

In accordance with a feature of the present invention, improved mechanism is provided for imparting'a reciprocatory movement to the driving members 38 whereby they are al-- ternatel engaged with anddisengaged from the carriers 31 so as to allow the strands from the lower supplies to pass therebetween. As best shown in Fi 4, two driving members a 38 are provided or each carrier, each driving member being reciprocabl a vertical guideway 40 forme in a frustoconicalrim portion 41 of the inner turret 19.

Theup r ends of the driving members 38 are adapte to en age with slots 42-formed in the carriers 31. arried in a recess 44 upon the inner side of each of the driving members 38 vare a pair of spaced rollers 43-43 which,

during the rotation of the turret 19, ride upon opposite faces of a continuous cam 45 projecting from the outer surface of a frusto-conical sleeve 46 secured to the outer turret 17. 7 As shown in Fig. 4, the cam 45 is composed of a plurality of alternating high and ;;low portions 47 and 48, respectively, which act upon the rollers 43 to-alternately project the driving members 38 into and w1thdraw themfrom engagement with the carriersi31. By employing two rollers for each driving member and a spacing the rollers so that they closely enound that the wear upon the-moving age opposite faces of the cam, ithas been and the obiectionable noises and vi ration which are c aracteristic of machines of this type arereduced to a minimum, thus rendering it possible to run these machines at'a much higher rate of speed. The arrangementof the driving members 38 with respect to the-cam 45' is such that each carrier 31 is at all times mounted a mounted in parts tween the carriers and the turret 19, without obstruction by the driving members 38.

The strands from the upper supplies pass around and underneath suitable guide fingers 50 and 51 secured to the brackets 30 and carriers 31, respectively, and converge on the underside ofan apertured guide member 52 (Fig. 1) The strands from the lower .supplies also converge at this pointand merge with the strands from the upper supplies to.

form a braid 54 which may be drawn from the machine by any suitable take-up device (not shown).

The improved mechanism for switching the strands from the lower supplies so as to deflect them in and out around the upper strandsupplies to form the braid will nowbe described. Suitably supported on the base 16 are a plurality of vertical posts 56-56 upon the upper ends of each of which is racket 57. Supported by the brackets 57 are a pair of annu ar supporting disks or rin s 59 and 60 which are disposed in spaced re ationship and in parallel horizontal planes. Secured to the supporting ring 59 and depending downwardly herefrom are a plurality of substantially U-sha d'members 62-62.- In the present embodiment of the invention four of these U-shaped members are provided and are equidistantly spacedaround the supporting ring 59. Secured to the supporting ring 60 and extending upwardly therefrom are a plurality of inverted U-shaped members 63--63. As best shown in Fig. 2, the members 63 are ositioned around the supporting ring 60 so t at one'of them is disposed intermediate each pair of adjacent members 62. It is obvious therefore that the number of inverted U-shaped members 63 will ual the number of U-shaped members 62. e strands from the lower supplies 26 pass between the U-shaped members 62 and 63"which are designed to deflect the lower suppl strands in and out around the upper stran supplies.

Sim leand efiicient mechanism is provided forta 'ng up the slack in the lower su ply strands as they sinuate in and out aroun the upper strand supplies. This mechanism comrises a plurality of arcuate members 65-65 isposed .in the path of the outer supply strands as best shown in Fig. 3. One of these arcuate members ia'provided for each lower strand and as shown in Fig. 3 each ,ofthe .arcuate members is attached at -each end to an individual bracket 66 carried by the outer turret 17. Extending downwardly and outwaiidly from the upper end of each bracket 66 is an arm 67 which is rovided at its outer end with an eyelet 68. Similar eyelets 69 and 70 are carried upon the upper and lower ends, respectively, ofthe brackets 66. The eyelets 68, 69 and 70 serve to guide the strands from the lower supplies in the manner hereinafter described.

The operation of the improved braiding machine is as follows: The strands from the upper supplies 28 pass around the fin re 50 and underneath the fingers 51 to the raiding point on the underside of the apertured guide member 52. The strands from the lower supplies 26 pass under the tension devices 27 through the eyelets 70 and 69 of the associated bracket 66, through the eyelet 68 of the arm 67 carried by the next adjacent bracket 66, and then around the arcuate member 65 of the latter bracket to the braiding point. When power is applied to the shaft 23, the turrets 17 and 19 are rotated in opposite directions as indicated by the arrows 1n Fig. 2. The upper strand supply carriers 31 are driven along the track in the direction of the turret 19 through the driving members 38 while the track 34 is rotated in the opposite direction with the turret 17. The turret 17 also carries the lower strand supplies 26 and the arcuate members 65, the latter passing between the stationar U-sha ed members 62 and 63. Thus, it wi lbe.un erstood that the arcuate members-65 pass the upper strand supply carriers 31 during their revolution in the opposite direction thereto. The strands from the lower supplies are carried about the axis of the machine and are deflected in and out around the upper strand supplies by the U-shaped members 62 and 63 as hereinbefore described. The U-sha ed members 62 and 63 and the curvature o the arcuate members 65 are so designed that the length of strand between the lower supplies and the braiding point remains constant at all times. Thus, a uniform tension is maintained in the lower supply strands without the use of delicate tension controlling devices as have heretofore been employed. This materially decreases the number of moving parts which obviously decreases vibration as well as the'initial and operating costs of the machine.

Referring particularly to Fig. 3, it will be understood that the lower supply strands upon coming in contact with the U-shaped members 62 will be deflected .downwardly along the arcuate members 65 and the curved right hand leg of the U-shaped members 62. As the lower supply strands are carried around the bottom of the members 62, they pass underneath the upper strand supply carri'ers 38 which are passing by the U-shaped members 62 in the opposite direction. As the lower supply strands pass underneath the carriers 31 the driving members 38 are alternatelywithdrawn from engagement with the carriers, this action taking place through the o ration of the cam 45 in such manner that t e movement of the strands are unobstructed as hereinbefore described. After passing around the U-shaped members 62 the lower supply strands are deflected upwardly by the inverted U-shaped members 63 whereby they are caused to pass, over the top of the next ufiiper strand supply carriers 31. In this way t am rotating in 0p osite directions at equal rates of speed it will e obvious that the lower supply strands will pass under two upper strand. supply carriers and then over the next two carriers and so on throughout the operation of the machine. Of course, the construction and arrangement of the members 62 and 63 may be changed so as to roduce any desired result. For instance, y doubling the number of members 62 and 63 and arranging them closer together, the lower strands may be caused to pass over one and under one of the u per strands. s

\ Alt ough one specific embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it is. to be understood that the novel features of the invention are capable of Various other applications within the scope of tions about a common axis, a plurality of.

stationary U-shaped and inverted U-shaped members arranged in series around said axis for shifting the strands of the supplies rotating in one direction in and out around the strand supplies rotating in the opposite direction, and an arcuate member associated with each of the shifted supply strands for maintaining a uniform tension therein.

3. In a braiding machine, a plurality of strand supplies rotating in opposite directions about a common axis, meansforshifting the strands of the supplies rotating in one direction in and out around the strand supplies rotating in the opposite direction, and an arcuate member associated with each of the shifted supply strands for maintaining a uniform tension therein. p 4. In a braiding machine, a rotating member, adplurality of strand supplies arranged aroun the rotatin axis of the member, a pair of driving mem ers associated with each strand supply and carried by the rotating member for revolving said supplies in the direotion of rotation of the member, means for alternately engaging the driving members of each pairwith the associated strand supply, and an arouate member associated with each strand supply for mintaining a uniform ten: sion therein. e 5. ha braiding machine, a moving member, a plurality of strand supplies supported thereby, a second-member moving in a direction opposite to the first member, a pair of driving members carried by the second movio ing member for moving one of the strand supplies therewith, means comprising a cam promoting from the surface of the first mow ing member and rollers carried by the driving members engaging opposite faces of the cam -for alternatel engaging the driving mem, bers with sai stran supply, a plurality of alternating U-sha d and inverted u-shaped' members or shi in the strand from another of the supplies 1n and out around said go strand supply, and an al enate member for maintaining the shifted strand under a uniform tension.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 15th day of July A. D., 1927. I RAY CHARLES KIVLEY. 

